Bob Dylan’s song, Forever Young, nearly captures everything I’ve ever wished for my children: abundant blessings, the fulfillment of dreams, strength of character, happiness and love. (In case you’re too young to remember Bob Dylan, Blake Shelton has done a very nice re-make of this song and Simon & Schuster have publish a Children’s Book of the song.)

May God bless and keep you always.May your wishes all come true.May you always do for others, And let others do for you.May you build a ladder to the stars,And climb on every rung.May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous.May you grow up to be true.May you always know the truth,And see the light surrounding you.May you always be courageous,Stand upright and be strong,And may you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy.May your feet always be swift.May you have a strong foundation,When the winds of changes shift,May your heart always be joyful.May your song always be sung,And may you stay forever young.May you stay forever young.

But I also think this song speaks to us as parents. It’s easy to go on auto-pilot when we’re with our kids because we have “real-life” things to think about. But it’s important for us to spend time with our children in their world, not just drag them along in our adult world. We need to teach them that to be forever young is to be young at heart: to run and play and giggle and sing and act silly. These are the things that make for wonderful memories and precious bonding moments with your children. And as a WeJoySing teacher, I hope that the songs, stories and games and that make up our WeJoySing classes are the tools that you will take with you, to help make ordinary days special for you and your child.

It seems to me that the last 3 lines of the song sum up the essence of WeJoySing. As we approach the holidays and the start of a new calendar year, this is my wish for all our WeJoySing families: May your heart always be joyful, may your song always be sung, and may you stay forever young.